A computer keyboard, or even the laptop keyboard for that matter, is one of the dirtiest places on earth. Most of the time, we do not take enough care to remove or clean the keyboard. Most of us do not give it a thought to clean the keyboard. One such issue you may face can be the hair stuck inside your keyboard. Have you ever given a thought to find how to get hair out of keyboard? We thought we will get into the best ways on how to get dog or cat hair out of laptop keyboard.
How to Get Hair out of Keyboard?
The best way to ensure that no hair gets entangled inside the keyboard should be to invest a good money in a latex cover to protect the keyboard. Before you can check out how to get the hair out of keyboard, we will try finding why does the hair gets INTO the keyboard.
The human body keeps shedding hair quite frequently. In fact, the hair and skin keep shedding throughout the day. That apart, you will find that your pet cat or dog keeps moving around you and keeps shedding its hair very much frequently.
With the cat hair or even dog hair on your keyboard, you will normally need to remove the keycaps. Removing the keycaps can indeed be quite easy and simple if you have a mechanical keyboard. A mechanical keyboard offers you a high degree of customization and personalization. This is exactly how you can easily remove the keycaps and clean up the hair on the keyboard.
Cleaning the keyboard can be quite simple and easy if you are careful and follow the steps involved quite carefully. There are several stages involved in how to clean a keyboard. The first step should invariably be to clean the surface thoroughly before you can learn how to deep clean a keyboard.
How to Clean a Keyboard?
The straightforward method that can help you in how to clean laptop keyboard and help you get rid of the hair can include:
Note – Do not use Ethyl alcohol for cleaning the keyboard. It can remove the printing and legend on the keycaps. It is highly recommended to use Isopropyl alcohol or standard rubbing alcohol.
How to Deep Clean Keyboard?
If you find that the muck and other grime has been removed from the keyboard surface and still there is a little grime on the keyboard, you will need to opt for cleaning up the keyboard further using the deep clean method for cleaning up the keyboard thoroughly.
Deep cleaning of the keyboard will involve removing the keycaps and even switches if needed. Before you proceed further, make sure that you have taken a photograph of your keyboard with all the legends clearly visible.
Once that done, follow the steps here below:
- Gently pry up the keycaps. You can use a good keycap puller. If you do not have a keycap puller, you can use a smaller flat head screwdriver.
- Use compressed air to remove the dirt to a better extent. You can even suck up the dirt using a small vacuum. Ensure that you are not exerting a high pressure. This can damage the internal mechanics of the keys.
- Wipe off the base using isopropyl alcohol. You can use the alcohol on a cotton swab or lint-free cloth.
- Once the keyboard internals has been cleaned off, use a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol to clean up the keycaps that you have removed in the first stage.
- Let the keycaps dry. You can even dry them out using compressed air.
Replace the keycaps, connect the power cable and check if the keyboard is working fine. Ensure that each of the keys is working as expected.
Things to Take Care of When Cleaning the Keyboard
While cleaning a keyboard can be extremely easy and comfortable if you take care of all the steps carefully. There are a few specific areas that you need to take special care about.
Check out a few of the Don’ts to ensure that you are not damaging your keyboard:
- Never use the high-pressure air for cleaning the keyboard. This can result in damaging the springs and even rust them. You may even damage the underlying PCBs.
- If you have used any of the liquids for cleaning the keyboard, make sure that you have not connected them back until the liquid has dried up.
- If you are using a sticky compound, make sure that it is not much sticky. You would not want to leave out the sticky residue even after the keyboard has been cleaned.
How to Clean a Mechanical Keyboard Without Compressed Air?
You frequently use compressed air for cleaning up the keyboards. In addition to the keyboards, the compressed air can also prove to be one of the excellent options for cleaning a host of computer components.
There are several ways you can use for cleaning up the keyboard if you do not want to use the compressed air:
- You can use the isopropyl alcohol for cleaning up the keyboards. Using a cotton swab dipped in the isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol can prove to be one of the excellent choices ever.
- It may also be a good idea to use a good quality ESP brush for the purpose. The size you pick for the ESP brush can be dependent on your keyboard and personal preferences.
- Clear tapes or cleaning slime can be one of the excellent options ever. Make sure that you are using low adhesive tapes for preventing further damages.
- The disinfecting wipes can be yet another excellent option you would find rather impressive.
Do note that the compressed air is just an optional content for cleaning your keyboard. There is no practical need for to use it for every need in terms of cleaning the keyboard rather effectively.
The Concluding Thoughts
Well, those were just a few of the options that should help you pick the best options for cleaning the keyboard. We assume the tips outlined here should ideally help you how to get rid of the hair from your keyboard rather efficiently.
Once you have followed all those steps, you should find that the key switches are responsive and you will not face any issues related to sticky keys. Clearing up hair from the keyboard can definitely prove to be quite effective and efficient.
